3D Printed Scale Models

Partial or full scale 3D printed models allow rapid prototyping and testing of features such as parts fit, basic geometry, strength, part interference, inferface matching, and others. It is a useful step that can be used to validate designs any time a 3D model is available.

Protocol

• Use FreeCAD CAD files to generate STL files for printing.
• Use the 3D printing software to scale the parts for faster printing.
• Assess for basic geometry, fit, stregth, etc. and document the results with a picture and diagram
• For models of 3D printed parts, it is useful to print with partial fill, such as 20%, prior to full 3D prints at 100% density. Use Cura to calculate print time based on different fill scanarios. Print time information is indispensible to production engineering.

Procuring Part Files

Search for similar models available off-shelf using 3D Printing File Repositories. Note that requests can be made to certain sites for generating 3D Printing Files - and uploading them to a repository if the file does not exist already - for free. See list of Services for Generating 3D Printing Files.